Illusions of Love

chapter 28



Charley stood in front of the mirror and ran her hands through her dark brown curls, shaking them out so they fell around her shoulders in loose, natural waves.

Staring back at her was a determined, strong and beautiful woman, although Charley felt anything but strong. She felt trapped and scared, terrified that her life was going in a direction she couldn’t control because, despite Vince doing everything he possibly could to try and stop Jimmy from exposing every element of her past life, Jimmy was letting nothing stand in his way. Nothing was a hurdle to him; legalities didn’t register in his warped and evil mind, so if he was hell-bent on some kind of revenge then he was going to go all out to get it. And no injunction in the world was going to stop him.

But did that mean she had to sit back and let him slowly dismantle everything she’d worked so hard for? Did it mean she had no other option but to sit back and watch while he pulled apart her wonderful new life, bit by bit, until it crumbled around her? At first glance it may look that way, but Charley knew she had to get out there and fight for what she loved, what she’d worked so hard to build up because, if she didn’t, Jimmy Cash was going to take it all away from her.

‘You can do this,’ she whispered to her reflection, running her fingers through her hair again, staring at the image in front of her. ‘You can do this, you can do this!’ she repeated, like some kind of mantra. ‘He will not do this to you again, he won’t drag you down, you won’t let him. You got that? You won’t let him.’

And she wouldn’t. Because Charley was going to take the only course of action she could see left open to her now. And she was going to do it on her own because if Vince knew what she was about to do he would stop her, no doubt about that. He would stop her. And maybe what she was about to do wasn’t the wisest route to take, but in her eyes it was the only one left, because Jimmy obviously wasn’t listening to anything anyone was saying to him.

Staring at her reflection one more time she took a long, deep breath and stared up at the ceiling as she exhaled, as though banishing away any nerves or doubt she might be feeling.

Charley had survived Jimmy Cash once before, and she could do it again. Only, this time, she needed to finish it for good.



***



‘Everything back on track then?’ Kenny asked, sitting down opposite India who was grabbing a quick cup of tea at one of the on-set catering wagons before filming began.

She looked up at him, blowing on her tea to cool it down. ‘If you mean am I back with Dominic, then yes. I am.’

‘Did you spend the night with him?’

She narrowed her eyes as she stared at Kenny. ‘Who are you? My father?’

‘No, but your father would also like to know what’s going on with my two co-stars, if that’s alright,’ Reece said, sitting himself down next to Kenny.

India felt as though she was being slightly ambushed as she took a sip of her finally-cooled-down tea.

‘I’ll get Carlos over to remove the pair of you in a minute,’ she said, half smiling, kicking Kenny under the table. He immediately kicked her back, causing them both to collapse in a fit of giggles.

‘How old are you two?’ Reece asked, looking from one to the other. But secretly he was just pleased to see his daughter happy again.

‘Oh, lighten up, Dad,’ India smiled, leaning over the table to kiss him quickly on the cheek. ‘Everything’s fine. Dominic and I, we had a good talk last night. Everything’s okay now.’

‘Everything’s okay?’ Reece asked, raising an eyebrow. ‘What does that mean, exactly?’

‘It means the pair of them kept me awake half the night with noises I’ve not heard the like of since I watched one of those ‘SAW’ movies,’ Bobby shuddered, sitting down next to India, sliding his glasses down onto his nose as he tapped away on his phone.

India looked at him. ‘My father is sitting right there, thank you, Bobby.’

Bobby looked at her over the top of his glasses. ‘Yes, I can see that, Angel.’

India turned her attention back to Kenny, smiling at him again, but the second he smiled back she dissolved into another fit of giggles.

‘Here we go again,’ Bobby sighed, rather too dramatically, looking up to the heavens for a second. ‘A love-struck India is never a good sign.’

‘Who said anything about being love-struck?’ India laughed, taking another sip of tea, if only to stop her from giggling. ‘He’s making me laugh, that’s all.’ She indicated Kenny with her head just as Dominic walked over, his hands in the pockets of his jeans, his handsome face carrying that movie star smile off to perfection as he threw it in the direction of anyone who looked his way.

‘And here we have the other half of the problem,’ Bobby said, without looking up, still tapping away on his phone.

‘Why do you always refer to my relationships as “problems”, Bobby?’

Bobby stood up, raising his eyebrows and sporting an expression on his face that gave India the answer to her question without him having to say a word. Then he just walked away, talking into his phone.

She turned to look at Kenny, who also just raised his eyebrows and said nothing, so she kicked him again. ‘You’re supposed to back me up.’

‘Only if the other person’s talking crap, India.’

‘Okay, I’m out of here,’ Reece sighed, pushing his chair back and walking over to India, who stood up to give her famous father a big hug. ‘I’ll see you on set, kiddo.’

‘Yeah, see you, Dad.’

India watched him walk away, tensing up slightly as he stopped briefly to exchange a few words with Dominic. An exchange which, thankfully, involved a smile or two, and India breathed an inward sigh of relief.

‘Hey, beautiful,’ Dominic sauntered over to India, sliding an arm round her waist and pulling her against him for a long, slow kiss; a kiss that literally made her knees go weak, and that was something she hadn’t felt since JJ.

‘Hey, handsome,’ India smiled, banishing any thoughts of her soon-to-be-ex-husband to the back of her mind as she gently stroked Dominic’s face, looking up into those incredible ice-blue eyes.

‘Right, I’m out of here too,’ Kenny sighed, sensing this was going to turn into something he didn’t much feel like staying around to watch. India was loved-up with another member of the Walsh family – albeit a slightly reluctant one – and the last thing Kenny wanted was to hang around to witness the early stages of her falling for another man. Even after twenty years it still hurt too much.

‘Are you not coming on set today?’ India asked, turning to look at Kenny but not letting go of Dominic’s waist, leaning into him like a teenager out on a first date.

‘Maybe later,’ Kenny replied, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his worn-out jeans, smiling at the girl he loved so much. The woman he cared about more than anything else in the world. ‘I want to go visit Greg and Anita over in Spring Valley this morning. I said I’d drop by and see them when I was in Vegas.’

India nodded, knowing that Kenny had promised to go see their two friends from back in the day, when they’d hung out at biker rallies and rock gigs; went to surf parties together down on the beach.

‘Has Anita had the baby?’ India asked, letting go of Dominic for a second to give Kenny a hug.

‘A couple of days ago. A little girl.’

‘Give them my love. Tell them I’ll give them a call soon, okay?’

‘Yeah. Sure,’ Kenny smiled. ‘See you later.’

‘Is he alright?’ Dominic asked, reaching out to take India’s hand, swinging her back round to face him.

‘Of course he is. Why wouldn’t he be?’

Dominic shrugged. ‘No reason. He just seems to find it difficult to look me in the eye, that’s all.’

India started playing with the collar of his shirt, his hand resting in the small of her back, stroking the base of her spine gently with his thumb.

‘He’s very protective of you, isn’t he?’ Dominic went on, tilting her chin up so she was looking at him. ‘Kenny, I mean. Very protective.’

‘He’s my best friend, Dominic. My closest friend. He’s been through some of the worst times of my life with me and he’s always been there to pick up the pieces, always been there to put me back together again so, he’s just wary, that’s all.’

‘Of me?’

She couldn’t help smiling. ‘Well, looking at your résumé, Mr MacDonald, you’re a little high-risk, you have to admit.’

He pulled her closer, kissing her slowly and India just fell against him, closing her eyes as his open mouth covered hers, their lips moving gently together in perfect sync, his hand in the small of her back keeping her body pressed against his and all she wanted to do was take him back to the villa and carry on where they’d left off the night before, making love until their bodies ached and her voice was hoarse from the shouting out. She wanted that right now, all over again.

‘High-risk, huh?’ he smiled, that beautiful smile that caused her stomach to somersault and her skin to tingle.

‘Very high-risk, Mr Movie Star.’

‘Yes, well, I’d quite like Mr Movie Star to get his ass back out on set, if that’s not too much trouble.’

They both looked round to see Michael standing there, the ever-present cap he always seemed to wear when he was directing pulled down over his eyes, his arms folded across his chest.

‘I mean, we are making a movie here. Apparently.’

India gave Dominic a knowing look and a quick smile, squeezing his waist before letting him go.

‘You coming?’ he asked her.

‘No, she isn’t. I want a word with India first,’ Michael said, his arms still folded as he stared at Dominic. His handsome, cocky, arrogant son. And a man who was far closer to India than Michael found comfortable. He wasn’t supposed to have gotten this close again, after everything that had happened. But Michael, as usual, had a back-up plan. Because if there was one thing he’d learnt over the years it was to be prepared for every eventuality. ‘We won’t be long. If that’s alright with you.’

Dominic stared back at Michael. It was quite obvious their father/son relationship wasn’t getting off to the easiest of starts, and he was in no real hurry to push that anyway, so he just looked at India, gave her a reassuring smile and left them to it.

‘Was there any need for that?’ India asked, turning round to pick up her phone, sliding it into the back pocket of her jeans.

‘I’m assuming, from that very public display of affection there, that the two of you are back together?’ Michael said, ignoring India’s question.

She looked at him, hoping that he wasn’t going to start with anything today because she really wasn’t in the mood. ‘What do you think?’

Michael gave a small laugh, looking down at the ground for a second, scuffing his shoe against the concrete floor.

‘Okay. Stupid question.’ He looked back up at her, his expression suddenly softening and India didn’t know whether to feel nervous or pleased. ‘He may be my son, India, but I don’t know him at all. And neither do you.’

‘I know him well enough to know that I want to be with him.’

Michael looked away for a second, and when he met her eyes again he had a look of concern on his face that she hadn’t seen from him in a long time. ‘You met him on a movie set, honey. You’ve known him a matter of weeks…’

‘Michael…’

He unfolded his arms and leant back against the table, and for a brief second India almost felt as though the old Michael was back. The Michael she’d fallen head-over-heels crazy-in-love with all those years ago. The kind and wonderful, incredible Michael.

‘I care about you, India. Jesus, I love you, kiddo, and I don’t make any secret of that. Do I?’

She couldn’t help but smile, relaxing in his company for the first time in weeks.

He smiled back, that famous Michael Walsh smile, something else Dominic had unwittingly inherited. Oh, the smiles were completely different, but just as captivating, in their own ways.

‘You haven’t made a secret of much, Michael. If we’re being honest.’

He looked down at the ground for a second, laughing that small laugh again. ‘No. I guess this is turning out to be one hell of an experience for all of us, huh?’

‘You could say that. Look, Michael, what’s all this about?’

He looked up at her, into a face he still loved beyond anything else he could ever imagine. She was his obsession, his only reason for waking up in the mornings, and it had been that way for twenty years now. So how was anything ever going to change?

‘Just, don’t let him hurt you. Okay?’

It was India’s turn to look away for a second, quickly glancing round at the normality going on around them, the noise of a movie set surrounding her as she had what could only be described as a surreal conversation with a man she would never truly understand. Even though she’d once loved him like she’d never loved anyone before. Like she’d probably never love anyone again. ‘Are you saying you’re suddenly going to stop fighting him?’

‘I never was fighting him, India.’

She looked at him again, into those piercing blue eyes – eyes that were now mirrored not only in the face of their beautiful boy, Ethan, but also in the face of the son Michael never knew he had. The man India was now very much involved with.

‘Yes, Michael. You were.’

He walked over to her, stopping right in front of her and she didn’t move, she couldn’t. Something made her stay exactly where she was, staring up into those eyes as he reached out and gently stroked her cheek, smiling that smile, but this time it didn’t fill her with dread or make her think there was something sinister beneath the exterior.

‘I can’t say it doesn’t hurt me to think of you with him, because I’d be lying. But then, you know as well as I do that seeing you with anyone hurts me. It always will, I can’t ever stop that. And yes, when I saw you with Dominic it got me right where it always gets me, right here.’ He stabbed at his chest with his fist, still staring right into her eyes, making it impossible for her to look anywhere else. ‘And when I found out who he was, what he was doing…’

India finally looked away, although she didn’t move from where she was standing, but just bringing up the subject of what Dominic had done made her feel uncomfortable. She didn’t want reminding; they were starting again, starting over. They were putting all of that behind them.

‘India, baby, look at me, honey. Come on, look at me.’

She looked back up at him, confusion taking over. Why was he suddenly so calm? So nice?

‘Finding out who Dominic was, that hurt more than anything else, India. That really f*cking hurt. But what I did…’

‘Forget it,’ she sighed, breaking the stare and stepping away from him, taking her phone out of her pocket and checking a message that had just arrived. From Dominic. It simply asked, are u ok?

India smiled, punching out a quick reply and Michael watched her, taking in every tiny change in her expression.

‘Dominic?’ Michael asked, catching her eye as she slid her phone back into her pocket.

She looked back up at him. ‘How do you really feel about him being your son? I mean, this has to be really weird for you, finding out about Dominic after thirty-six years. It’s enough to freak anyone out, but you seem so calm. Too calm, almost.’

He just shrugged, folding his arms again. ‘You know me, honey. I’ve coped with many things in my life, this is just something else sent along to try me.’

She watched him for a few seconds. Was he displaying signs of defensive behaviour? Was the folding of the arms a signal that this was something he didn’t really want to talk about? Or was it a sign of something completely different? Was it a sign that he didn’t want to talk about it because he was dealing with it in a way only Michael could? A way that still left room for people to be hurt even more than they already were.

India had no proof either way, of course, but just knowing what Michael was capable of was enough to make her step back slightly. It was enough to put any growing trust she might have been building towards him right back in the box.

‘There’s nothing more to it than that, India,’ Michael said, as if reading her mind. He needed to keep her on side; he couldn’t risk alienating her any more. ‘I’m dealing with it, okay? And maybe, one day, when he’s ready, we’ll talk about things. Sort something out.’

‘Sort something out? What’s that supposed to mean?’ India asked, narrowing her eyes as she looked at him, wishing he’d take the cap off when he was talking to her because it felt slightly odd not being able to fully see his eyes. Or maybe that was his intention. If she couldn’t see his eyes then she wouldn’t be able to read him.

‘I’m not saying we’re ever going to have a close father/son relationship but, one day, well… maybe one day we can salvage something from this mess.’

She continued to stare at him. ‘Why are you telling me this?’

‘Because I want you to know that I’m okay with it. With you and Dominic.’

‘I don’t need your permission, Michael.’

‘No, I know that. I know. That isn’t what I meant.’

India was starting to get bored now and she sighed, running her fingers through her hair, shaking it out as she looked at him and Michael wished she wouldn’t do that because she made it one of the sexiest actions he’d ever seen. And he still wanted her more than anyone could ever know. ‘What do you mean then?’

He looked down at the ground for a second, breathing out quickly as he looked back up at her almost impatient expression. ‘I’m not going to stand in your way. You and Dominic, you’re together, I get that now. And it was obvious that anything I did wasn’t going to prevent that from happening. So, I’m not going to stand in your way.’

She stared at him for a few seconds longer before pushing her dark glasses down over her eyes. ‘I’m glad to hear it. But what any of it had to do with you in the first place is still beyond me. I’ll see you on set.’

Michael watched her walk away, his heart breaking with every step she took because each step was a step nearer to a man who was now more involved with both of them than he needed to be. He’d made it a tougher fight to win, a harder game to call, but Michael was still confident that, although Dominic seemed to have won the battle, he would not win the war. Michael had that all-important Plan B, that idea to fall back on, he wasn’t stupid. He’d always known this might happen, he’d just hoped that it wouldn’t. But now he had to take a different tack, make India think he was okay with it all, that her being with his son didn’t bother him. But it did. It bothered him big time. It had bothered him before he’d found out who Dominic really was and it bothered him twice as much now he knew the truth. But he could deal with it because it wasn’t the end. In fact, in Michael’s eyes, it was only just beginning.



***



‘You have got to be kidding me, Charley!’ Kenny exclaimed, running a hand through his hair, staring at Charley because he couldn’t believe what she was asking him to do. It was like history repeating itself in some different yet uncannily similar kind of way. ‘Why the hell would you want to do this when Vince is taking care of everything?’

‘But he isn’t, is he, Kenny?’

‘He’s trying. What else do you expect him to do?’

Charley sat down on the edge of Kenny’s oversized cream sofa, wringing her hands together, staring straight ahead of her. ‘I know he’s trying, Kenny. But we’re dealing with Jimmy Cash here, and whatever Vince and our lawyers throw in his way he’s just going to ignore it, don’t you see that?’ She stood up again, facing Kenny head on, a determined look in her eyes that almost scared him. ‘You can’t deal with a man like Jimmy in the same way you’d deal with anyone else.’

‘And you think talking to him, just you and him, face to face, you think that’s gonna help, do you?’

‘It’s my only option.’

Kenny laughed, a cynical laugh, throwing his head back, turning and walking away from her but she followed him into the kitchen, determined that he was going to help her. Because he was the only one she could turn to. The only one who could help.

‘No, Charley. Your only option is to walk away and let Vince deal with this.’ He turned to face her. ‘You don’t go near him, do you hear me?’

‘Find out where he is for me, Kenny. Please.’

‘Oh no. No, Charley. No way! Jesus, Vince will f*cking kill me if he even thinks I’m…’

‘Please, Kenny. Forget Vince, he doesn’t need to know, but I need to do this. I really need to do this.’

Kenny leant back against the kitchen counter, pushing his hand through his hair again, looking at the ceiling, sighing heavily. ‘Shit! Charley, I don’t know…’

‘Don’t make me beg, Kenny. Because I will, if I have to. And if you don’t help me then I’ll just find out where he is on my own.’

Kenny looked at her. ‘That’s tantamount to f*cking blackmail. Throwing that at me really isn’t fair.’

And it really was like history repeating itself now as memories of Terry and what had happened when he’d taken things into his own hands flooded Kenny’s head. He really didn’t want to go back there, but he didn’t want to call her bluff either. Because he didn’t think she was kidding.

‘For f*ck’s sake, Charley…’ Kenny sighed, throwing open the refrigerator door and grabbing a beer. ‘This is bad news, honey.’

‘I can’t see another way, Kenny. I just thought that, maybe, if I try talking to him, face to face, just me and him…’

‘You think he’s gonna roll over and give in?’ Kenny pulled the bottle top off with his teeth, spitting it out into the sink behind him. ‘Is that what you think he’s gonna do?’

Charley sighed, part of her knowing he was right, but another part of her knowing she had to do this. For the sake of her own sanity. ‘I just know I have to try, Kenny. That’s all. I just have to try.’

Kenny took a long drink of beer, his eyes on her all the time. ‘I don’t agree with you doing this. You need to know that. And if I do find him?’

‘Then I go talk to him. That’s all. I’m just going to talk to him.’

But, where Jimmy Cash was concerned, there was no such word as ‘just’. And all Kenny could get from this whole situation was one hell of a bad feeling, but what could he do? If he told her no, he wouldn’t help her, he had every inkling that she’d just go out there and find Jimmy herself and that could turn into a whole bigger mess than anyone could anticipate. So he had no choice here. He couldn’t let what had happened to Terry happen to Charley. But, either way, no matter what he chose to do, he wasn’t going to be able to sleep at night, that was for sure. He wasn’t going to be able to sleep well at all.